Godwin Class Annual - 1945

All Godwin classes between about 1929 and 1954 were defined by either
the Great Depression or wars - WWII and the Korean conflict. ( For some legal
reason wars started being called conflicts with the Korean conflict.
People did still die however, and to the average person it still seemed
like war. )
World War II ended in Europe in March of 1945. It would go on in the
Pacific theatre for about six more months, but the outcome was predictable.
Like all emergency events in the US, life was often very bad for the
enlisted man or woman, but for most Americans the war was mainly a nuisanse.
The government tried to instill a sense of sacrifice with various artificial
shortages - rubber, gasoline, and various household items - but in reality
life was pretty normal on the home front, and everyone who could or would
work had employment. None of this was lost on those on the front lines, but
this is the usual division of sacrifice in emergencies.

Once the war in Europe was over mountains of war surplus began to flood
the US. One can see a war surplus Jeep in one of the annual photos.
For a while they were the off road vehicles of their time. For several
years after the war completely ended there would be a US recession as the
economy struggled to get back to a civilian basis. Many jobs were lost
when the war ended, women mostly went back home, and what jobs there
were related to converting factories back to civilian production.

This was the world the Godwin class of 1945 graduated into. Most would
not have to serve in the Korean conflict five years later, and the
economy did start to pick up in a few years. Much of the rest of the world
was devastated as a result of WWII, and once the US did start to produce
mostly civilian goods, and the returning service men and women were
absorbed back into the economy, life was mostly good, jobs were plentiful
and the needs of the wider world almost endless. The US had an intact
manufacturing infrastructure after the war, and there would be limitless
demand for products of all kinds. The remaining
farms around Godwin were quickly carved up for subrurban housing, and
there was a population explosion, now referred to as the "baby boom."
This would greatly affect school expansion in the early 1950s, and
in year 2010 and after might well bankrupt the Social Security and
Meidcare systems.

For much of the 1950s and 1960s the US economy was strong.
An emerging Cold War would have unforeseen consequences that were,
ironically, mostly good for the US economy, and education, and led
to US citizens landing on the moon by 1969. Albeit with a lot of
help from German rocket scientists. This era might well represent
a peak in US education, as the forces for performance, and the
opportunities for having trained, have mostly gone the way of the
Cold War, and today one hears more about things like "outsourcing."

Televison, interrupted by WWII, would start to emerge in the late
1940s - minus channel one, which was a victim of the war. The frequency
was taken over for war use and never given back.

On balance, the class of 1945 had boundless opportunities. Mostly long
retired now, they will likely be the last generation to enjoy generous
taxpayer funded income and medical benefits. But their working years
saw the rise of two car families, lake property and cottages, boats,
new houses in
suburban settings, and almost no government regulations. In a material
sense they likely experienced a high water mark in the US, and enjoyed
standards of living their parents couldn't dream of, and that their
children will likely not be able to afford.

The cover of the 1945 class annual.
Left click on the image for a larger image.

The entire 1945 class annual, made available for scanning by
by Edna (Carpenter) and Forrest Keyes, Godwin class of 1934 and 1932
repectively, is presented below.
To view the pages, simply left click on the page numbers.
Each page has been scanned at about 150% of its original size
in order to make some of the details easier to see. You might
have to move the image around in your browser in order to see it all.
Be sure to make your browser full screen size for easier viewing.

Also be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of each page; comments
and notes are included on some of the pages.
Use the "Back" button on your browser to return to the main menu.
People should consider contacting me if they have additional information,
or comments.

View the 1945 annual either by page number or by using thumbnail images.